New research has shown that even
25 minutes of light exercise may benefit your horse’s health, even if it doesn’t
result in additional weight loss.
The study was carried out by Nick
Bamford and his colleagues at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of
Veterinary and Agricultural Science, in
collaboration with SPILLERS®. An abstract of the research has been published in the Journal of
Veterinary Internal Medicine.
A total of 24 obese horses and
ponies were randomly divided into two groups; ‘restricted diet only’ or
‘restricted diet plus exercise’. All horses and ponies were fed the same diet
of restricted hay at 1.25% body weight on a dry matter basis (no grazing), a
small amount of alfalfa chaff and soya bean meal, and a vitamin and mineral
supplement.
The exercise programme, which was
designed following feedback from horse owners to help ensure it could be
implemented relatively easily in ‘the real world’, consisted of 15 minutes of
brisk trotting (with a five-minute walk before and after) five days per week
for 12 weeks.
The ‘restricted diet only’ group
showed an overall reduction in body weight and body condition score. They had
increased levels of adiponectin – a hormone produced by fat cells, low levels
of which are a risk factor for laminitis. They had decreased baseline insulin,
high levels of which have been linked to an increased risk of laminitis, and
decreased leptin, high levels of which are associated with obesity.
Although exercise did not
increase weight loss, it did produce additional benefits that were not seen in
the ‘restricted diet only’ group, the most important one being improved insulin
sensitivity. This is important because high levels of insulin in the blood
and/or reduced insulin sensitivity are risk factors for laminitis. Horses and
ponies in the exercise group also had decreased levels of ‘serum amyloid A’, a
protein that is a marker for inflammation.
“Reducing calorie intake and
feeding a diet low in starch and sugar should be the priority for overweight
horses and ponies,” said Clare Barfoot RNutr, the research and development
manager at SPILLERS®. “However, the results of this study suggest
that exercise may offer additional health benefits for obese horses and ponies
and/or those with ‘EMS’ that cannot be achieved by cutting calories and weight
loss alone.”
She added that the exact amount of exercise required
is yet to be established – even if you are unable to follow the exercise
programme used in this study, some exercise may still be beneficial.
For
more details, see:
Influence of dietary restriction and
low-intensity exercise on weight loss and insulin sensitivity in obese equids.
Bamford NJ, Potter SJ, Baskerville CL, Harris
PA, Bailey SR.
J Vet Intern Med. (2019) 33:280-286.
